To hope to dislodge Max Verstappen, it is a question of taking all the risks. Charles Leclerc applied this instruction to the letter, so much so that he badly negotiated the last turn of his last qualifying lap. The Monegasque Ferrari driver will only start in sixth position this Sunday at the start of the Austrian Grand Prix. The Red Bull leader had not tasted pole for three GPs.
Best time of the session, four tenths ahead of his runner-up, Verstappen was “literally flying”, according to George Russell, third thanks to Oscar Piastri being relegated to seventh position, due to an overrun of track limits. Without this, the starting grid would have closely resembled the results of the sprint race, dominated by the Dutchman ahead of the young Australian and his McLaren team-mate, Lando Norris.
As for Lewis Hamilton, fifth fastest in qualifying, he confirms that Mercedes is no longer in the no man’s land it occupied for a while this season, too far behind the best, but ahead of the worst. His single-seater seems almost better equipped than the Ferraris, despite Carlos Sainz’s fourth place.
On Red Bull’s home turf, the race still seems likely for the reigning triple world champion, once again far ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez, eighth on the starting grid.
On the French side, Esteban Ocon made it into the top 10, while Pierre Gasly stopped in Q2, in thirteenth position. “That’s the most we could do today,” analyzed the former, not very optimistic. “It’s going to be complicated to stay in the points. There are other very fast cars behind us, but we’re going to do our best to keep them behind and score points on Sunday.”
